


You Have Set on Me, but You Are Not the Sun

by HOMRA



Category: Sengoku Basara
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle of Sekigahara, Implied Relationships, M/M, One Shot, alternative ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-19 02:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4728959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HOMRA/pseuds/HOMRA
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tokugawa Ieyasu was the very depiction of order and peace. Ishida Mitsunari was pandemonium and misery. Two souls that had no business intertwining but had been thrown together by circumstance. Ieyasu would be damned if he didn't say they were like night and day. Never destined to be in the picture at the same time, but pulled together on rare occasions when certain conditions came to be. He didn't think he'd have it any other way and he refused to lose their odd relationship over something as trivial as the death of a war villain. </p><p>Alternative ending to the Battle of Sekigahara.  </p><p>One-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Have Set on Me, but You Are Not the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> I have had this on my hard drive for the longest time and never finished it for some reason, so I figured I'd finally get around to it and post it! :P
> 
> In other words, hello everyone! Here's a super short one-shot based after the Battle of Sekigahara. I find these two to just be utterly tragic, so I wanted to actually go back to the real battle and play a little bit with the legend that says Ieyasu actually took Mitsunari and hid him away somewhere to avoid persecution. What's believed to be Mitsunari's real fate is just terrible, but hey that's a story for another day. Please enjoy and let me know what you think, I've never written about SB before, for some reason. ;-;
> 
> This isn't beta-read, so mistakes might be possible.
> 
> To my dismay, I do not own any of the characters used in this writing or SB. Heartbreaking, I know.

In the five minutes they had spent at each others throats it became abundantly clear that Mitsunari Ishida had been driven far past the point of reason. The realization took Tokugawa Ieyasu's breath away, though it could have been argued that Mitsunari ramming into his chest was the real reason for that. 

Plummeting towards the earth, feeling the strength and will to fight his former comrade slip away, Ieyasu briefly wondered if Mitsunari's face would be the last thing he ever saw. As he suspected, his body hit the earth, _hard_. Hard enough to kill a normal man but in his travels and times spent on the battlefield Ieyasu came to realize no General he met was exactly _normal._

He vaguely felt Mitsunari's name roll off his lips, but in that moment he felt vulnerable and weak. A blade idly dug into the skin at his throat but did not dear break the thin surface. The hand-forged piece of metal was shaking against his exposed skin.

_No, Mitsunari was shaking._

Ieyasu could only wonder if it was from rage, disgust, or hesitation. Something told him all three were likely the real cause of the involuntary twitches the man sitting over him was going through. The yellow clad General dared to look up when he felt something wet plummet down onto his cheek, they slowly became more abundant. Falling one after another. 

Red tears of blood rolled down his companion's pale cheeks, the man who shed them held his eyes wide open. His pupils trained on Ieyasu's own. It was then that Ieyasu felt a glimmer of hope, but it was also then that he felt the worst for what he had done. 

"Surely you realized it, too." He heard himself say but he wasn't sure if he was talking about Hideyoshi's change of heart or his own. Mitsunari looked less than pleased about the _traitor's_ choice of words. 

Ieyasu wasn't sure why Mitsunari clambered off of him then, why he didn't sink his blade so deep into the larger man's skin that his head became severed from his shoulders. But the slight hesitation the yellow clad man had detected had surely come into play, he wondered then what ever happened to Mitsunari's conviction. 

"Mitsunari..." Ieyasu was sure said man was tired of his name being spoken but it was all Tokugawa could muster up in that moment. The next thing he knew the other had charged, screaming something about how he would finally bring the death of Ieyasu about, and the latter, not really meaning it, had said that it was finally time to say goodbye. 

But that wasn't something he had ever wanted.

A searing pain ripped at Ieyasu's exposed arm as he blocked a devastating blow from Mitsunari's wild swing, the blade picked up again, aiming at his neck this time around and for a moment Ieyasu thought he was a goner. But then he saw what he had been looking for, an opening. Taking the brunt of the swing with another block from his arm the blade merely grazed the side of his neck before he twisted into a position where he could land a sinister blow to Mitsunari's exposed torso. Armor be damned, Ieyasu would make sure he would be feeling that tomorrow and for many more days to come.

With all his strength, but with the same restraint Mitsunari had showed to him, his fist collided into his former comrade's stomach. Another hand savagely ramming the small man in the chest as the two began to fall down, away from one another. 

Ieyasu grimaced upon his descent, wondering how many times his body had hit the earth and hoping this would be the last time for the day. He wasn't sure he could take anymore of this. He had calculated a battle plan down to every last detail, unleashing gambit after gambit in order to assure his victory, but doubt had always clouded his judgment. 

_Did I seriously think I would be able to kill Mitsunari?_ He asked himself as he roughly hit the earth, a loud thud echoed somewhere in front of him shortly after as the other man finally met the same fate. _I could have killed him...but there was no way I ever could at the same time..._

Ieyasu let his eyes slip close for a moment, focusing more on his labored breathing and the throbbing he felt in his hand and less on the fact his one weakness would never be conquerable. If killing Mitsunari meant peace for the land of the rising sun than Ieyasu doubted he would let the King of Misfortune continue to drawl breath. But that wasn't the case, _and it likely never will be,_ he reminded himself.

Ieyasu was perfectly aware of Date's plan to thwart him once this battle ended, if he would've emerged victorious. Something told Ieyasu he would have had to deal with Sanada too and he knew that would be far too much for him to take on at the current time. The warlords were all secretly trying to make this battle the last Japan ever saw, but Ieyasu knew this. Knew things were not and never would be quite that simple. 

He couldn’t afford to fall here, couldn't let Sekigahara become his grave instead of a place he cherished and adored. An image of him parading around the battlefield with Mitsunari's head in hands dared roll across his mind and he had to fight the urge to be sick. So many had died so that he could have his chance, and he couldn't event take it. He couldn't risk it, he wouldn't do that...he wouldn't make another mistake and bring more pain to the one person he was trying so hard to protect. 

Ieyasu heard his soldiers approach him, heard Mitsunari's do the same before they all issued a retreat. Likely assuming they were both dead. Tokugawa could only wonder if Date and Sanada would wage war right here and now or wait for another time when both had more to be proud of and show. He really hoped they were smarter than that. There would be no winner if they fought it out now; and it would be all too easy for Uesugi to take control of the entire continent should all of them fall. That simply couldn't be tolerated. 

"Ieyasu! Ishida!" Ah, there was Sanada. Tokugawa realized he should have known better, Yukimura was often too kind for his own good. He managed to open his eyes and prop himself up on his elbows, surveying the area before locking eyes on Mitsunari's unmoving frame. Sanada leaned over him, a worried expression on his face.

"I didn't hit him hard enough to cause serious damage, he'll be fine when he wakes up..." Ieyasu blabbed out before he could stop himself, and somewhere behind him he heard Masamune's signature grunt, something he did when he was either amused or irritated. It was always hard to tell. 

"Why would you spare his life, Tokugawa? Isn't taking him down the way you're gonna seize control of his lands?" Date asked bitterly, he was irritated, Ieyasu noted as he turned and made eye contact with the One-Eyed Dragon. Definitely irritated.

"Kind of like how you were planning on betraying me once I took him down, right Masamune?" Ieyasu asked innocently enough, smiling to himself when Date's face contorted into that of shock. 

_Does he think I'm that stupid?_

"Tsk, you're not worth the effort in the state you're in at the moment." Date hissed, though Ieyasu saw pity in his singular eye the moment it met his own. The yellow clad General couldn't help but frown. 

"This was not the battle to end all battles, I'm afraid while there is so many of us alive and kicking this world may never come to know true peace." Ieyasu mumbled under his breath as he put a little too much weight onto his injured arm, crying out as his body was forced to return to the earth. "Maybe Mitsunari was right after all...what are bonds when they aren't true?

You'd be so quick to turn your blades against me, and after you defeated me, seeing as I'm in no shape to continue fighting, you would surely go after Yukimura, would you not?" 

"That-" Katakura, who seemingly popped out of nowhere, began but was cut short by a laugh from the self proclaimed Big Boss of Oushuu. Ieyasu grimaced at the misplaced sound. 

"Masamune, what good are bonds when they are so easily broken?" Ieyasu asked in earnest as he once again forced himself upward, this time gathering the strength to get onto his feet, despite Sanada's warning. 

"Bonds will mean nothing in the end, Tokugawa Ieyasu. One day, all but one of us will be dead and this land will not know peace until then. That is the way this world operates, you of all people shouldn't even talk about breaking bonds." Masamune countered dangerously, hands resting on his swords as if he would cut down the Eastern Forces Leader should he dare say another word. Ieyasu wouldn't be so easily swayed.

"Then why do you hesitate? Why do you not kill me, kill Mitsunari, and have your last fight with Sanada? Why do you not draw your swords?" Ieyasu gambled, his uninjured hand extending forward as he caught the Dragon's gaze. Masamune looked to be at odds with himself.

"This is not where the last party will be held, you see?" He answered, as if that truly accounted for his lack of action. Even Katakura couldn't be bothered to correct his Lord.

"The answer is simple, Date Masamune." Ieyasu began as he took a step forward, nearly falling to his knees again from exhaustion. "You do not fight me or Sanada because that isn't what you want to do at the moment. We are worth more alive than dead to you because other wise Uesugi and Lord Takeda would roll you over if we weren't alive to have your back. You need us more than you care to admit."

Masamune looked to be at odds with himself after the words had been said, but even Sanada and Katakura averted their gazes from the One-Eyed Dragon, letting the reality of the words hit home in Masamune's soul. The Lord of Oushuu actually smiled, "perhaps you're right about that. But don't think for one second that I won't come for you when the time finally comes." 

"I'd expect nothing less from you, Masamune." Ieyasu answered in earnest as he averted his attention to Mitsunari, his feet carrying him closer to the injured man. Sanada's hovering shifted into a protective stance but he moved when he saw Ieyasu's face contort into something akin to regret and grief. 

"Mitsunari, how could I have been so naive?" He asked the still figure as he assured Yukimura he would not harm the man he was now cradling in his weak arms. The King of Misfortune finally began to stir.

"You've always been a fool, Ieyasu..." Mitsunari answered for him as he shook off the reigns of unconsciousness, his hand curling up on Ieyasu's shirt as if it would anchor him to reality. 

"I never meant to cause you so much pain," Ieyasu admitted under his breath, "but I couldn't allow someone like Hideyoshi to continue living. The world didn't need more brute strength, it needs compassion and understanding. And no matter how much I preach that it seems as if I will never come to understand how we can obtain that ourselves."

"You...bastard..." Mitsunari howled as he slammed his forehead into Ieyasu's, using the last bit of strength to move that he had left in him. "Hideyoshi would've made a world where we could have known true happiness and peace...but you took that away from me!" 

"Mitsunari...why do you continue to ignore the fact that Hideyoshi wanted nothing more than complete and ultimate power? He didn't care for anyone besides Hanbei, we were just a tool to get what he wanted in the end! Why would you continue to serve a man that would surely issue your death warrant the moment that he had achieved his ultimate goal?" Ieyasu shouted back at him, desperate to break the seemingly mindless state Mitsunari had entered ever since his Lord had fallen. 

"Hideyoshi and Hanbei had a _bond_ ," Mitsunari nearly spat the word out, "that will be remembered throughout the ages. Hideyoshi wanted nothing more than a land of peace! You say that strength isn't the way to rule the land but you tried to take control away from Hideyoshi by brute strength, and it worked! You got what you wanted, you traitor!" 

A loud smack sounded throughout the now quiet battlefield. Ieyasu couldn't believe he had laid a hand on the man in his arms until he felt the sting in his arm become nearly unbearable, Mitsunari looked up at him, completely dumbfounded. 

"Enough," Ieyasu choked out, "why do you continue to torment yourself? You had the chance to avenge Hideyoshi and you let me live, Mitsunari! You didn't take my head, you allowed me to get on my feet again, and don't you dare tell me it was for the sake of honor when you clearly don't have any anymore!"

Mitsunari's confused face contorted into something akin to shock. 

"Dammit, Mitsunari!" Tokugawa howled, clinging onto the man in his arms even tighter than he had before. "I'm not sorry I put an end to the reign of terror Hideyoshi let the land endure but had I known this would pain you so much...I might have at least had the dignity to put myself down as well." 

If Mitsunari wouldn't listen to reason then Ieyasu was prepared to act like he had none, either. The only way he could ever get through to the man he held so dear was going to be by unconventional means, it was the only way he had ever gotten through to him. 

Tokugawa Ieyasu was the very depiction of order and peace. Mitsunari was pandemonium and misery. Two souls that had no business intertwining but had been thrown together by circumstances. Ieyasu would be damned if he didn't say they were like night and day. Never destined to be in the picture at the same time, but pulled together on rare occasions when certain conditions came to be. He didn't think he'd have it any other way and he refused to lose their odd relationship over something as trivial as the death of a war villain. 

Carefully setting Mitsunari down, Ieyasu grabbed for the silver haired man's sword, something that cause Date and Sanada to go on high alert. Both prepared to defend themselves, and maybe even Mitsunari, but Tokugawa had no plans on harming any of them. No, he only wanted to cease Mitsunari's rash thinking and revenge driven goals, he just needed to be drastic and reckless....just this once.

"I'm sorry for everything, Mitsunari." Ieyasu unsheathed the sword, taking several steps away from the other men as he pressed the sword's blade against his throat. The wounded swordsman forced himself to his knees, eyes wide as he watched his ex-comrade with a look of pure terror painted on his face.

"Ieyasu!" Mitsunari cried out as said man pointed the sword downwards and unleashed a deep sigh before swinging the sword towards his neck, eyes closed as if he was bracing for his death but instead, he found himself hitting the ground, again might he add, with a loud thud. Air rushed out of his lungs as he struggled against his captor and tried to regain control of his breathing. 

"Let me go!" Ieyasu fake cried as he tried to regain control of the weapon that had been snatched from his hands.

"No!" Was the simple reply, but it made Ieyasu's heart pound heavily in his chest. The voice was unmistakeably Mitsunari's. Prying his tired eyes open he came face to face with the man who was so hellbent on keeping him alive, the King of Misfortune himself weighed down on Ieyasu's chest, keeping him pinned to the ground. 

"Let me end this now, Mitsunari....let me end this pain for you!" Ieyasu scrambled to get the sword and in his own desperation didn't even realize that the both of them had begun crying. He felt like an utter fool.

"You are not allowed to end your own life, Ieyasu!" Mitsunari hissed as he tossed the weapon away, Yukimura grabbing it before it could be used as a gambit again. 

"Then kill me, Ishida Mitsunari..." Ieyasu whispered, teary eyes meeting those that looked like they were bleeding. _Why must you suffer so much?_

"I..." the King of Misfortune started but found himself unable to form proper words. "I'm tired of fighting, Ieyasu. Killing you will not bring back Lord Hideyoshi or Hanbei. Killing you would only cause greater conflict and I..." Mitsunari hesitated, "I cannot allow myself to lose one more person that sees me for who I truly am." 

"Ishida..." Yukimura mumbled as Date and Katakura came to stand by his side, Sarutobi joining them almost immediately. 

"He truly is one unfortunate man," Masamune said with a slight grimace as he cast his gaze to Sanada, who looked ready to cry at any moment. 

"What will you do, One-Eyed Dragon?" 

"I think we ought to leave them to it, let them sort things out for themselves. My alliance with Ieyasu will be over when I'm stronger and able to take this country in one fell swoop. For now, I got what I came here for." Masamune answered as he turned to his Right Eye, who gave him a knowing look. "Besides, something tells me those two will be all right. I don't see Mitsunari ever leading an army, but whether or not he forgives Ieyasu is none of my concern."

"I see, so that is your answer then?" Yukimura asked as he carefully laid Ishida's sword on the ground, giving the two men in the center of the battlefield one last look. "The Takeda will withdraw as well, Masamune this is far from over. Next time we see each other I expect the fight of my life!" 

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Sanada Yukimura." Masamune replied with a wave of his hand as he began to walk away, only freezing to look back at the younger man one last time. "Or should I say, Tiger of Kai?" 

Yukimura could only smirk. 

Finally alone in the very place they had made a promise to one another, Ieyasu forced himself upright, pulling his ex-comrade into his arms as he gazed upward at the night sky. Mitsunari didn't stir.

"You're coming with me, I hope you know that." Ieyasu said as he let his eyes close, tears stinging the corners of them. "Bonds are important, powerful, and easy to break...and even harder to rebuild...but I believe the bond we once shared can be even stronger in time. To make up for the sins I have committed and the pain I have caused you, I will fight for you...I will make the land of the rising sun a place you can be proud to live in."

"Do you think I'd willingly go with you?" Mitsunari finally said, hissing in pain as he slumped back into the strong, yet exhausted arms, that held him close. 

"I'm prepared to force you," Ieyasu answered honestly, "I will not allow you to fall here. Not until I make up for what I have done...I made a promise to you to, Ishida Mitsunari, but allow me to make a new one?"

"What?" The King of Misfortune asked flatly as he gazed up at his lone companion, Ieyasu could only smile. 

"When I make this world of ours a place you can be proud of I will fight you again, here in Sekigahara, just you and I. If you're good enough you can even take my head as a souvenir."

Mitsunari smirked.

"You're such an idiot."

Ieyasu wiped away a stray tear that had fallen down the silver haired man's cheek.

"Believe me, I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Kudos are always appreciated and deeply motivating! 
> 
> Also, send me requests so I stay busy. I'm thinking of starting a collection of one shots so just send me a prompt and a pairing and I'll make it happen. :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


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